Undead Desert
by Definite.Dev
Summary: The life of Brooke Knight. Having a boyfriend in Special Forces isn't all that bad. Though, it kinda sucks when he is located at Base, and you're all the way across the U.S. What sucks even more is, yep, a horde of Undead Zombies between you two. Perfect.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Desert

Time seemed to stop as I waited beneath the car. The moans and groans that echoed in my ears became a droning of noise, just a bunch of noise. I knew they could smell my blood, though I didn't know if they thought it was old, or that I was there. I just waited, silently, barely breathing or moving, there was a great chance that I wouldn't be able to get out of here, that they would stay until the rest of eternity, but that was fine with me, because then they wouldn't be able to get to me. And I was grateful for that, at least.

I closed my eyes. Maybe I could take a nap, a short nap, they wouldn't be able to get to me, they couldn't fit underneath the car. My eyes started to flutter closed, my breathing deepening and evening out. Blackness came over me as I fell asleep.

I awoke to silence. The moaning and groaning had stopped. The constant droning noise had disappeared, and chills crept up my spine. I looked around the bottom of the car, seeing nothing by the desert dirt and sand. I could smell a faint metallic scent, like the smell of wet pennies. Blood. I crept silently forward, my back grating against the bottom of the car's hot metal, the pipes digging into my back and shredding what was left of my black tank top.

The smell got stronger the more I crept towards the front of the car where I could faintly see dark pools of a liquid in the sand. It had become nightfall, I had slept through the day. Good, I could move quicker at night, the Undead wouldn't be able to see me move, and I could gain more ground during the night than the day anyways. I came to a stop at the edge of the car's hood, peeking out.

And indeed, the smell of so much blood was nauseating, though, the blood was not human. There was green and white pus throughout the blood, making it appear slimy, thick, filmy. There were pieces of graying flesh and eyes and hair in the blood. A decomposed arm or foot or . . . Head . . . Lay in the blood. Bodies ripped to shreds laying in the pools.

I started breathing through my mouth, though that didn't stop my gag reflex from disagreeing with me, I hate it when that happens. In the small ditch under the car of which I had crawled, I curled sideways and threw up, the acrid stench of my vomit and of the Undead's decomposing bodies mixed in the air, only making me wretch more. Disgusting pieces of sh-

There came a sound. The crunching of small, nimble feet on the dirt and rocks. Though it was almost silent, it sounded like a gunshot in the silent night. I lay over my foul smelling vomit, disgusting, I know, though I couldn't exactly move anywhere, cut me some slack, I'm not that much of a grunge girl.

Though, besides that thought, a thousand other ones raced through my head, _Had they heard me? They had, didn't they? Oh, Im so screwed. Please don't look under the car. They can reach in and drag me out from how close I am to the edge of the car. Oh, please, God, if you have ever hated me any other time, please don't hate on me now, Haters not gonna' Hate. So screwed-_

Another crunching of feet. I knew the sound was not human. It was too quiet, too . . . I don't know how to explain it, though it definitely was not human. A soft breeze rolled by, bringing the stench of vomit and blood away from me and to my right, rolling away, along with some other lighter . . .Body parts . . . Not going into details, trust me, you DON'T wanna' know! I couldn't pinpoint the sound of the feet, though it sounded like it was coming from-

_SNAP!_ To my right . . . I whipped my head around to the direction it came from. Only to find glowing yellow eyes staring back at me, its face only inches from mine, the stench of it's rotting body and bodily fluids sending shiver through me and my throat to close up in panic.

I scrambled away from the Undead, it's glowing yellow eyes following me. I saw its jaw working loosely from it's gray head, orange teeth crooked and covered in drying and fresh blood. A few tufts of hair covered its large skull as it gazed at me soundlessly, its jaw still working, though in circles as it ground its sharp, scarlet and orange teeth together, making a sound so blood curdling that I was momentarily frozen on the other side of the car. And then, it started reaching for me, of which I gave only a reaction I could have delivered; giving a growl and curling of my lip in disgust as I thrust my right foot forward in the tiny space to slam my combat boot covered foot into its ugly arse face, smiling in satisfaction as a jaw dropping crunch sounded and my leg vibrated with the impact as it sank into its face and snapping it's head back and off of it's shoulders.

Although I knocked it's head off, it was already dead, I needed to tear the thing to pieces, not two. I reached forward and grabbed it's outstretched hand, being careful of the oozing holes in it's graying, decomposing skin. I flinched when I made contact with it; it's skin felt like mush, a mayonnaise infused balloon made of paper, it moved, its skin coming off in my hand. How they managed to eat anyone I have no effing clue.

I rolled underneath the car, going to me left and coming up behind the wheels of the car, scrambling out and into the night, my skin grazing the hot metal and singing and burning my dirt covered skin. By now, you are probably wondering why there are face-sucking Zombies all around me, why I'm hiding underneath a car, why I'm out in the middle of nowhere, stuck and covered in dirt and blood. How I look, or why my personality is so bad-arse. Well, let me tell you . . .

In a friggan moment, I'm kinda' busy.

Once I was out from underneath the car, I grabbed the closest thing to me; a severed arm, and raised it up in my right hand, widening my stance and snarling at the body graveling at my feet. The moon shone brightly down on me, the stars were providing a sliver of silver light, and although that was great an all, the Undead has heightened senses, which means they had night-vision. This is where my Defense Mechanism kicks in, where I use Sarcasm as my super-power.

"You ugly piece of chizz! Come at me, bro! Come at me!" I sneered, my lip still curled. It stumbled once, reaching out for it's head and grabbing it by the skin hanging off of the back of it's head. I watched in loathing as it snapped its head back and shoved it back onto it's frail, bone thin shoulders. Eww.

The Undead closed it's glowing yellow eyes, its teeth mashing together to create a grinding sound, it's massive, egg-like head swinging back an forth methodically. I waited patiently, watching, waiting, ready. Not a moment too soon, its eyes snapped back open, now the color of blood, of crimson, of rage. It let out a deafening roar that could have fell an elephant, and lunged at me, it's talon like finger's lengthened and outstretched, nails sharp like knives. Mouth open and elongated teeth like a shark's going for my throat.

Of course, the bizzatch never touched me.

I sidestepped the Undead, bringing the arm in close to my body and turning ever slightly. I felt the graze of his nails on my black tank top, felt the wind of his attack sweep past me and bring my black raven hair billowing into my black eyes, dark as onyx orbs. There you go.

I shot my foot forward right before he came out of my reach and tripped the bastard, smiling as his face planted right into the ground, his head snapping off again, one of his arms and legs coming loose and popping right off of his body. I hurried over to him, grabbing what was left of his left arm and yanking it right off, feeling the puss inside of his skin ooze out and onto my hand. I turned and grabbed his right leg from underneath me, twisting it at an odd angle, relishing in the crunch of bone and the heady break of his leg off of his abdomen. He couldn't move anything now, there was nothing attached.

I got up from his body and went over to the others, twisting off limbs and thrashing others. Gathering them up and putting them onto the hood of the car, which I had now found out was a silver Honda civic. Figures.

I went to the trunk of the car and found, _hah!_ the spare gallon of gas. I went over to the passenger side door and yanked it open, snapping open the dashboard drawer and rifled through the various ammo casings and napkins covered in blood, several broken explosives, and found the matches. Mhmm. Mama had been prepared. I grabbed up several of the broken explosives, things like grenades and dynamite and C4, along with the matches and slammed the door of the car shut.

All the while I was doing this, I had a skip and a hop in my step, whistling a cheery tune, which, by the way, happened to be _Donald, Where's Your Trousers?_ By _The Irish Rovers. _Favorite song of the week right now. I came to the hood and carefully placed the explosives in strategic places. I grabbed the small bar of C4 and pulled out a spare shoe-string from my pocket, _my shoelaces were always breaking, and that was bad in the world of the Undead, so I kina collect them right now, _and tied the shoelace to it.

I grabbed the matches from the back pocket of my faded blue denim skinny jeans, the once clean, blood and pus free material now covered in the stuff, along with various and annoying holes here and there. I twisted a match from the small box and struck it against the side of the box. At my first hit, the match came to life, and I watched in amazement as small sparks flew off of the red tip of the match, the flame going from the deepest indigo of blues, to the most fiery of oranges.

I watched as it danced in the small breeze, giving off a small amount of heat in the already hot night. The flames seemed to beckon me, call to me, telling me to just make it end, to stop the world and let me off. Tiny fingers made of flames reached for my face, giving off waves of warmth and heating my rosy cheeks, bringing to life inside me something dark and forbidden. I closed my dark eyes, shaking my head. No. Not tonight.

I slowly fluttered my eyes open and glanced once more at the flames, which seemed to have gotten smaller, weaker, defeated. I carefully reached down and lit the shoelace tied to the C4. And, once the dirt covered shoelace was lit, I turned and sprinted away, running for my life as the flames crawled higher up the shoelace to the C4 nestled in between the Undead body parts, surrounded my explosives and covered in the leftover gas I had poured all over the hood and everything.

I was barely far enough away before the silver Honda Civic exploded behind me in an eruption of pure white fire.

**Tell me what you think! I will explain everything in the second chapter, stay tuned! Wow, that sounds corny. :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The Real Effing Deal

So. I'm limping now. The explosion behind me earlier, remember that? The white shower of sparks, the force and sonic boom it emitted? The heat from the blaze and blood and body parts raining down on me like I was in Hell? The hot flames blasting me twenty feet forward? Well, upon my flight, I twisted sideways, and I came down on my right ankle, so it either might be broken, or I just twisted it very badly. That was an hour ago. I think it might be broken but that just might be me.

Where did we leave off? Oh, right. I said I was going to tell you how the entire freaking world came to be known as Undead Land. You see, there started an epidemic. The epidemic started with a cure. A cure for cancer, a cure for allergies, a cure for colds and flus, there was one single dose of "Med. KU," otherwise known as Medication Kause Undiluted. It was a pure, undiluted medication in a small paste or vial or liquid, pill or whatever people needed, they would get in that form.

You see, this "Med. KU," cured everything, from addictions, to terminal cancer, to, "you have blah blah blah days to live." The whole deal, it took away every disease known to man. And it was sold for a thousand bucks a piece. It was also said to extend life a whole fifty years. Which, I think is a load of crap.

People started taking the pill, enjoying it even. This medication was supposed to be the start of a new revolution, of a more peaceful, a "more healthy" eternity. Though, what they hadn't counted on, what they had NEVER considered, was what would happen if the medication was taken into account that, you needed to be an animal in order for it to take effect.

You see, they tested this product on live animals. Dogs, cats, frogs, pigs, you name it. They NEVER tested it on humans. Their mistake. The side affects started showing within the first two weeks of taking the medication. The patient would become . . . Distant. Emotional. Bipolar; showing signs of hidden anger, of random outbursts of violence and rage, then being fine the next minute. Their senses heightened; sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, the whole deal.

Then, their flesh started slowly turning gray, their eyes becoming more and more yellow with each passing hour. Their hair started to fall off, increase in hunger. And, the drool started falling out of their mouth randomly, the stench of their bodies becoming worse and worse, showing signs of rabies, foaming at the mouth, animalistic cravings and desires, accompanied by the animalistic, primal behaviors.

And finally, people started disappearing. Reappearing later, their heartbeat stopped, though their muscles contracting and moving, the brain still working, controlling. And when they reappeared . . . They were always covered in blood, their eyes either a rage crimson, or a glowing yellow. There was no sense talking to them, they couldn't hear you, they didn't have reason, even though their brains worked. It was all if all humanity in them had shut off, been killed in their hunger-filled primal need. And, of course, other people always caught the KU Undead Virus.

It was in the saliva or the blood, the medication worked its way throughout the body, even the smallest drop of the stuff, you were done for, better start planning your next human meal right then. It was the same amount of time for everybody, see, the KU Undead Virus could duplicate itself, which made it soooo affective. Once in the body, it attached itself onto the blood cells and any scrap of body it could latch onto, divulging into that piece and "purifying" it. So in other words, infecting it and moving onto another piece of human.

You see, once it was done with that piece, then that one and the Virus detached from one another, and latched onto others, and then those ones onto more, and those more onto everything else, creating havoc within in system. It was always around two and a half weeks, and then, welcome to the Undead, bizzatch.

So, if that one Undead bit another person, or a person killed the Undead, though had several cuts or had their mouth open during the fight and saliva or blood got into the cuts or their open mouth, then it was no use, they were now infected.

Whoop. De. Flippin. Doo.

The sad part is . . . My Mom had gotten infected.

The day was sunny, three days after school had gotten out and I had graduated. Mom was at the grocery store with me. We were exiting the store, bags in hand. We made our way through the parking lot and I unlocked the door of our small white Slug Bug. I opened the trunk and handed the keys to Mom so she could start up the car and get the air conditioning going while I put all the bags inside the car.

My head was down, I couldn't hear anything, the sides of te car blocked out everything as I was bent over the small space, trying to figure out how to put the milk on top of the sodas to where when we were driving it wouldn't fall over on the bread. I didn't hear my Mom drop her keys, couldn't hear the Undead's moans.

As I slammed the trunk closed and glanced up . . .

_The friggan milk was getting in the way. I couldn't put the bread on top of the soda pack because then it would fall over, and the melon would probably roll on the bread. With a heavy sigh, I pushed my dark raven's hair out of my black eyes. I closed my eyes and leaned over the milk and bread, both sitting on the soda pack for now. _

_Today had been a really long day. First of all, Alan was gone. He got an assignment for Special Forces and he left eight hours ago. And it was now 3:42 in the afternoon. So, I had to get up at seven this morning, so early in the morning, and say goodbye to him. The start of my day was ruined, he was gone. His face flashed before mine; violet eyes, so beautiful, sometimes when he held so much emotion inside of him, they turned a dark indigo. Like this morning, they were indigo. _

_His smile, oh so perfect, his dimpled flashing in a brilliant, gut-wrenching and heart-throbbing grin. Every time he smiled like that, I swear, the world around me stopped on its Axis and it was just he and I in the world and nothing else mattered. This morning, I had been a sad smile that twisted my heart and gut in the worst way. His hair was a curly chocolate, just a mess of perfection that whenever he was nervous, he would run his hands through their silky feathers. _

_Whenever I was upset, he would hold me close to him, burying my face into the crook of his neck, enveloping me in his warmth. His massive body covering mine in an embrace that protected and shielded everything from me, his muscles contracting even with the slightest of movement, his six foot five frame towered over me and gave me the calmest sense of relief and safety. _

_I remember his golden skin, so soft, though hardened with muscle. It felt like water under my fingers, smooth though unyielding. He wasn't here to protect me, to hold me. Through my closed lids, a tear escaped my right eye, and I angrily wiped it away. I shut my eyes even tighter. _

_Today, there were even more stares, more eyes filled with fear and disgust and animosity and such loath, such dread. I knew it was my eyes. They were black, but not just black, but so dark, they were just pits of onyx orbs in my face. And I'm not talking just the irises, no; I had no whites to my eyes, just dark onyx. _

_When I was younger and I went to church, the people of the entire church cast me out, calling me a devil's child because of my dark eyes, calling me Satan's Daughter. Although when I was younger, around the age of newborn to six, they were just whispers back then. Now, it was full of warnings of death, stares, and animosity. _

_And today was no exception. Mothers pushing their kids in carts actually glared at me and turned their carts around and bolted down the isles, shouting at me over their shoulders. Today, it was, "Devil," and "Demon," along with, "Cursed," and strings of obscenities. _

_I usually ignored them, I usually raised my chin and hissed at them and widened my eyes without raising my eyebrow or murmuring under my breath as I smiled a wicked, evil smile, scaring the chit out of them._

_Today, I was just sick of it. Sick of everything. I didn't have any energy or drive today to tell them what I thought of their idiocy. _

_I opened my onyx orbs for eyes and looked at the bread and milk, smirking at them with a tired wariness. And for a moment, I noticed the car wasn't started, that mom wasn't sitting in the driver's seat trying to get me into the passenger seat, telling me to hurry my ass up before the air conditioner ran out of cold air because I was letting it all out. And, it was quiet._

_I slammed the trunk of the car closed, forgetting about the milk and bread and turned to the driver's side door and immediately stopped in my tracks. There lying on the ground, was Mom, bleeding profusely everywhere, not an inch of her skin was clean. And, crouched over her, holding my mother by her neck and tearing at the flesh on her arm; could only be described as something out of a horror movie._

_I let out a scream._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Now You've Done It

I had scrambled, I have screamed. That had startled the Undead infected and it ran from my mother, leaving her dying, infected. I grabbed her up and put her in the car and drove us home. Two and a half weeks later, she was an Undead. And my father had infected himself by trying to save me. I couldn't bring myself to kill them, or to get myself infected. So, I ran.

So, my parents were out there, Undead, together. I ran to the closest base, Nellis AFB, here in Vegas. I ran all the way from my community over by my High school of BGHS, and I had never been more scared in my entire life. Everywhere I turned, there were infected. People were turning left and right, and I was left to try and get a hold of Alan, with nothing but my various weapons varying from a dagger to axe to assault rifles and grenades and smoke bombs.

I stole the Honda Civic later on and when I got to the base called Alan from there, warning him ot not come back to Vegas. Everyone in the base had encounters with the Undead before, though it wasn't as bad as now. When I told them that almost everyone in Vegas was turned, they laughed in my face. It wasn't until a few days later that one soldier returned, his squad went out to have a few drinks on his off night, and his buddies were killed and infected, and he was infected as well. Now, everybody in Vegas, including the entire Nellis AFB, was Undead. Everyone but me.

I called Alan again, warning him that Vegas had been compromised and that I was getting the Hell out of dodge. I was to go rendezvous with him at base in Fort A.P. Hill, an army base, all the way over in Virginia. I was screwed, to say the least. I was all the way over on the West Coast, and he was on the East Coast. To say the least, I was going to die before I got to the base.

Though, just because Alan was in Special-Forces, him being four years older than me, does not mean he was the driving force that got him into the Special-Forces. Nope. I was the one who taught him how to fight in the first place, to handle recoil and the schematics of a gun and how to create a bomb out of a cardboard toilet paper tube. I was that bad-ass.

He enjoyed it, put my training into perspective, and went to training for Special-Forces, he made it through to Emblem Ceremony, and next thing we know, he was in. All because when we were kids, I taught him how to shoot a Glock 19mm at the age of six. You see, I was strong, even as a kid, and I loved guns, Dad was a police officer, and he went after bad people. Well, bad people went after him to, so, it was kind of a necessity to know how to seriously hurt or kill someone at the age of six, to be able to withstand pain, to not show emotion. Yeah, I was a bad-ass kindergartner.

Though, enough about the past, the dire thing I needed to focus on now was that the sun was starting to come up, and I needed shelter fast, and I needed to find out what to do about my ankle, what advantages I have, and what disadvantages I have. I need to know where I am, and how direction I'm going, and what the Hell am I supposed to do about my clothes? Every minute that ticked by, was a minute that the Undead blood could dry on my skin even more, or if it could sink into my pores, and I would be screwed over twice, sideways, by an orangutans slimy and wrinkly balls.

I needed some damn inspirational, fight, adrenaline pumping, ass kicking music. I looked around me, my dark raven hair billowing slightly in the hot breeze of the desert, it looked more blue now because of the oncoming light in the sky, the dark blanket turning a lighter shades of purples and reds and pinks.

I scanned the horizon all around me, seeing nothing but desert, rocks, tumbleweeds, dirt, rocks, small dust devils, rocks, some small shrubs, and rocks. Oh, did I mention I saw rocks? By the looks of things, off in the distance, the mountains surrounding the Vegas area were turning red. Which means I was heading North towards Red Rock, which also means I was way off course. Shit. Eff me sideways . . .

I was supposed to be heading East, towards Virginia. What had stopped me? Oh, that's right, a horde of Undead spotting my moving car and jumping in the way of the deserted road, following me with their super-human speed and strength, chasing me a good hundred miles North towards Alamo. I was halfway there too before I lost them, and my car ran out of gas.

And because of my stupidity, I forgot about the extra gas and when I looked out towards the distance, I saw the horde still on my trail. I got underneath the car of which was conveniently stopped over a small ditch, just small enough for underneath the car. And you know about the rest already.

I have not used my iPod, the original blue Nano, the one with the small rectangular screen, the one that is the length of the third line in my middle finger, closest to the tip, to the middle of my palm, since I charged it at Nellis, which was a good five days ago. I had the charger in my pocket along with my iPod and a pair of ear-buds. I think was as good a time as any to listen to it.

I pulled my sapphire blue iPod out of my front jeans pocket, turning on the small device to happily find it had full battery. Small things to be thankful for. I put the clean white ear-buds into my head and went to my Genres of music of which I had categorized into, _Fight, Bad Happenings, Sad, _and _Fun. Fight _for when I was in an aggressive mood, _Bad Happenings_ for when I felt like something bad was about to happen, _Sad_ for well, you must not be an idiot, and _Fun_ for fun music, like Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

I went to my _Fight _Genre and picked out _Nookie _by _Limp Bizkit._ I walked to the beat, acting out roundhouse kicks and right hooks and left uppercuts, executing invisible imaginary enemies. And when the chorus hit, I ran out at full sprint. _I did it all for the Nookie, for the Nookie, so you can take that cookie and stick it up yo' rear! _I ducked and dove forward, rushing at blinding speeds and sliding out, my right foot shooting out in front of me, my left leg curling in as I glided across the rough ground, going under an imaginary Undead and slamming my arms out to knock him down.

I felt the dull ache in my ankle as I slid and got up and off the ground, realizing now was not the time to play around and take out invisible foes. I shook my head and pulled my iPod out of my pocket again, scrolling through my music over the censor on the pause, play, fast forward and rewind keypad.

The next song I chose was _Mr. Saxobeat _by _Alexandra Stan; _great song for a sprint. I put the iPod back inside my pocket, tucked away safely. I gave a wicked smile and shot off, going headlong into invisible foes, racing by at incredible speed for a girl who has an injured ankle. I was always faster than everyone else, it was one of the other quirky things besides the fact that my eyes had no whites to them, just onyx orbs.

Of course, in addition to my training, and my speed, I ran relatively quietly. Making no sound at all, not even a crunch of feet on the ground or the disturbing of nearby rocks by the wind rushing by them. Though, being the idiot that I am, I was singing, and even though my voice might sound, "melodious, beautiful, and sorrowful and yet full of unshed rapture", _I seriously doubt what people say about my voice, _I was making noise, alerting anything and everything to my presence.

The song changed to _Lunatic _by _Static-X, _and I was all for it. Though, that meant screamo, and that was even louder than my "melodious" singing. And that was when I was rushed by something heavy, dark, crushing me to the desert ground underneath something massive, warm, and . . . _Furry?_

I let out a silent whoosh of air. I felt disorientated, one moment standing, the next, I'm on my back, and something is standing over me, pinning me to the ground with brute strength. I moved my tongue over my teeth, making sure nothing came loose, which there wasn't. I slowly moved my right arm in towards my body, getting ready to push off, when a loud growl erupted above me and I froze. It sounded like . . .

_A FRIGGAN LION?_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

My New Pet

Alright. So, where did we leave off? Oh, that's right. I'm being held down by a freaking LION. It looked like a Mountain Lion, one of those Cougars or related really closely to it, from the corner of my eye. Though, it was quite large, and by quite large, I mean a thousand feet tall and weighing at a billion pounds. Which, in reality, is four feet tall from the ground to shoulders and probably a ton, like a horse, a small, feral horse.

So, I stayed underneath the lion as it looked at me with it's lip curled in a very scary looking scowl of a growl as the sound it made reverberated through my chest and into the ground below me, creating a small, thunderous roar. I would have shit my pants by now, but I've been through worse. I had to keep moving though, if I stopped, I would start to think and . . .

No, I couldn't think of it, not yet, not until I got to Alan. I pulled in a harsh breath. _One._ I let out the breath, moved my hands along the rough ground of dirt and rocks, so packed, so hard, this wouldn't help in my case.

_Two._ I pulled in another breath and closed my eyes shut tight, clenching my teeth as the lion's hot breath brushed against the back of my neck, enveloping me in the smell of flesh and wet pennies, of blood.

_Three._ With a grunt, I shoved off the ground and knocked the hundred-million pound lion off of my back as it growled and snapped it's teeth inches away from my spine. I snarled in pain as it's claws swiped at the back of my legs and got the edge of my calf slicing open my jeans and a little of my skin. I felt warmth and a wet liquid slide down my leg. Blood.

As I dived away and rolled, I heard it behind me give a snarl and heart it's feet leave the ground in a whisper of fur and dust and dirt fly away as it pounced. I turned just in time to see it's claws outstretched and elongated in to deadly weapons.

Spit flew from it's mouth as it was widened, ready to tear flesh and lacerate and consume anything in its way, consume me. It's massive muscles were rippling as it was poised mid-air, flexing and un-coiling in a vicious way.

It was as if everything froze in time as it was lunging. Eyes locked and focused on my eyes as we were locked in a battle of will and strength. We connected. There was a sense of wisdom deep in those eyes and anger and fear and venomous fury that was unleashed in those Lion's eyes, so focused on mine.

I felt my muscles coil as time slowly sped up again, my fists clench in a white knuckled grip as my legs bent in closely, my back hunching up and my spine stiffening as I was crouched on the ground. I felt my teeth grind together as my jaw flexed and clenched. I felt a burning in my eyes as a ringing in my ears started.

I felt power ripple through me, such power, that I opened my mouth and a sound so horrific ripped through my throat and roared around me, splitting my ears and slashing open my heart and soul and tearing and lacerating my very being from the inside out. And then, I collapsed.

I awoke to the sound of a loud engine, like thunder clapping and roaring repeatedly. It was loud and echoed around me. My eyes were closed, though I could tell it was night time since I last passed out. It felt like two in the morning, though I wasn't sure. It was cold, it always got cold at night time out here in the desert, though, not could enough to where you could feel it. It was still warm, don't get me wrong, this was Las Vegas.

Though, I felt a lot of warmth being generated to my right, I was laying on my belly face down on the dirt ground, by the way. My face was averted left, and the warmth being generated like a heater was coming from my right, I could only feel the heat through my clothes, and the noise was coming from there as well.

_Metal from a car? Engine roaring? Please God, let them be alive and not think I am a zombie._ My dark hair fell into my obsidian dark orbs of eyes, obstructing my view of the slanted ground of dirt and rocks around me. _Talk about vertigo._

My thin black tank top felt shredded, and my jeans felt like bits of cloth just barely hanging on to my flesh, of which felt shredded as well. I sucked in a silent breath and felt like my throat had been ripped apart, my voice box absolutely broken and in shambles. My throat was raw, and my insides felt dark, empty.

I huffed out a breath and turned my head slowly. And I came face to face with the mountain lion. The lion looked at me with the most golden eyes I have ever seen, they looked at me with wisdom and calm reassurance. They gazed back, like shining bright stars of light, flecks of silver like ice chips dotted here and there in those bright eyes. They glowed and shined like nothing has ever before. In those depths of stars, I saw loneliness, I saw appreciation and intrigue and I saw happiness. Hope. Love. Courage. Strength.

I saw myself in those eyes. And that scared me. And I realized, there was no car around, nor engine or people. That was purring, and it was the giant cat in front of me that was making that noise. The heat was coming from the lion. And it was laying down next to me, watching me with those perceptive glowing golden eyes while resting it's head on it's front paws, just watching, purring.

I sat up, brushing my hair back with my right hand and propping myself up with my left, and the lion came to sit up with me as well, eyes still locked with mine. Its purring slowed down and it was a dull and not as loud as before, but still pretty loud.

I kept my eyes locked with the lion as I spoke, "Can you understand me?" Its purr came back in full force as it ducked it's head and gently grabbed my left hand in it's massive teeth, throwing it up in the air and started to pet itself as it let go and ducked it's head under my palm. The lion's fur was soft and warm, it felt like the softest of silk and the heat radiating off of a fire. Inviting, comforting, familiar and like home, somehow.

It rubbed it's head under my hand, it's ears pushed back onto it's head in pleasure as it purred whole-heartedly. It was a happy sound, and it's touch full of gentle care and love. I felt my maternal instinct kick in, felt my heart reach out, my whole being pulsate and shove through my chest as I scooted closer and reach out both hands to caress the lion. Somehow, I knew it was male, I knew it was a dominant, and I absolutely knew I had to take care of him.

And I don't know how, or when this started happening, but we were connected, and we understood each other.

What was wrong with me?

A little while later, we we're walking, together, side by side; Lion and Woman. I never consider myself a girl, always more mature than I look. And the strange thing was, it felt natural, complete. Don't ask me how this is, but, it was just as if the world was meant to be like this.

Since my nap, I had discovered that the scratch the lion had given me earlier, was not there, sure, there was blood to prove it, and my jeans were absolutely shredded and covered in dried brown blood splotches, but, there was no cut, no bruising, no lacerations or anything of any kind. Just whole flesh.

There were a thousand scenarios racing through my mind as we walked in the darkness of the moon. Silver beams of light shining down on us was the giant cat's slick and sleek tan fur coat gave off a silver luminescent glow of light, looking silver and white in this light.

I looked down to my shredded shirt and jeans, at all the dried blood and puss and gore, noticing an eyeball had attached itself to my shoe, I huffed a breath of disgust and kicked my foot, shaking it off and watching it fly a few feet away to land behind a rock and tumbleweed.

The hot heat that the ground below still held radiated warmth under my shoes and I saw the faint waves of heat rising off the ground and into the air around me, surrounding me in warmth. I looked to my right to the giant cat, towering at four feet tall paw to shoulders, it was massive and graceful, muscles coiling and rippling with each step.

It's powerful jaw worked silently, opening, closing, grinding, clenching, relaxing. It yawned and roared silently besides me, creating sounds unlike any other. It's ears twitched now and then, flickering forwards and back, listening, watching, waiting.

I looked back forward, to the horizon line, facing East. The sun had not started to rise yet, but it was coming, and I felt I was not ready to face the light. I knew I wasn't ready to face the truth; I was alone. My parents were gone, and I was probably not going to make it to Alan. No. I'd die before I even reached halfway.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Let's Try This Again

We had been trekking along the desert road for quite some time, I imagine hours went by and the sun had risen just a smidgen, golden rays of flame and white hot light streamed across the sky, creating the dark abyss into a lighter blue, pale and good, untouched by the corruption on the Earth below it's pale eyes.

I plugged in my headphones to my ears again, _Little Lion Man_ by _Mumford and Son's_ was playing in my ears. I had not forgotten about the lion next to me, of course. He trotted along right next to me, content and silent as the rising sun. We had not come across any buildings or cars since I had been around a town last.

They thrived or, more over, lived off in the cities, where there were more people. The more people, more food. The more food that got away from the Undead, the more infected. The more infected, the less food. Less food, they fed off of each other. And where was all of this occurring? You aren't a dumbass. Put it together.

If you are. It's in the cities. So. No cities equal more of a chance of survival. More chance of a survival equals getting to Alan. Getting to Alan equals life, protection, love, and guaranteed safely and a possible cure.

Are you getting the picture now?

Sigh. I don't want this song. I pulled the iPod out of my pocket and went to my _Fight/Fun_ genre and scrolled through the songs until I came to _Skrillex_'s song _First of The Year (Equinox)._ I placed the iPod back into my pocket, nice and snug and continued walking, putting my hands in my back pockets. The material of my faded blue jeans was now stained brown from the dirt and blood that had dried over. If I stopped to think for too long, then I would thing about the wounds the lion had inflicted on me, of Alan, of my parents . . .

Anything could have happened to them. Hell. Alan could be infected for all I know; he could be dead, just like the others . . .

No. Stop it.

Fuck.

I came back to myself just as the song started the chorus in the middle of the descant of music right in the middle of the song and I tested the weight on my ankle, leaning on it ever so slightly as I limped, and white hot pain shot up my leg and reverberated throughout my body. Okay, fuck no.

I gritted my teeth against the pain and looked down at the lion to my right. I watched the muscles underneath its glossy fur coil and ripple as it moved, like water, and thick ropes of steel under all that mass of skin and hair.

_ Look at me._

Just as I thought it, the lion looked up to me, and I gazed into his golden orbs of stars for eyes. We connected right then and there, again, and I felt that he could know everything I was thinking.

_Run._

He took off at a sprint, but slow enough that I could keep up. I grinned to myself, ignoring my ankle, we needed to move and find shelter before we completely ran out of supplies, which were close to nothing, right now. To be honest, I don't even remember what we have. I took a deep breath in and made a break for it, closing my eyes against the bright golden rays of sun coming down on me, against the beauty of gold and ethereal luminescent glow of light. I could feel the crunch of dirt and rocks under my black combat boots, feel the wind whirring past me and through my black tank top, feeling it nice and warm against my skin, overcome with goose bumps from my thoughts alone.

I felt the holes in my jeans fill up with the air ad push off of my body and away from the infected blood. I felt weightless now, without the weight of my drenched jeans. I felt weightless without my shredded and blood covered shirt on my skin. I let the air rush through my black raven hair; it felt enticing against my scalp, so light and warm. I felt my signature grin light up my face, it felt tight and lopsided as always, reaching up to the right side of my mouth and stretching across my face, cracking the blood that had dried there, stinging a scratch in my cheek, but it felt amazing.

I felt free.

I opened my dark orbs of eyes again to see the lion in front of me roaring wildly. I yanked my ear buds out of my head and stopped. The light was bright, too bright. The air felt still. Chills crept up my spine as I stared ahead of me; the desert ground felt too solid, too hard under my feet and looks dead and barren. How long had I had my eyes closed? I didn't even notice the song changed. The light of the sun felt hot against my exposed skin. My hair still whipped around my head and into my face from being whiplashed so long and the slight breeze I had created in my run, my hair catching up with the moment.

Everything was too quiet all of a sudden. My lion quiet and staring challengingly at the town in front of me. A town. There could be people. Supplies. Clothes. Food. Shelter.

Zombies.

I looked down to my iPod and looked through for the song I had just thought I was listening to. That was 19 songs ago. Each song was about 3 minutes long. That's around 57 minutes. I had my eyes closed for about 57 minutes. An hour. I've been running for an hour.

I looked at the barren town in front of me. I saw the small shops and restaurants, felt my dark eyes burning with disbelief. I felt my muscles stretch along my bones underneath my skin, felt the tiny hairs on my skin rise and my shoulders hunch and my stance widen. My mouth opened up and lips curled into a snarl. I felt my sweat drip down my skin and plop silently onto the dirt under my feet. _What if the bastard that turned Mom and then made Mom turn Dad is in here?_ _What if that monster is _here? _Within reach? What if Mom and Dad are here, waiting for me?_

I could hear my iPod switch songs around my shoulders and I reached down into my pocket and turned it off and put the ear buds in my pockets as well. The material of my jeans felt rough against my fingers, the light of the sun got sucked into my gaze as it was drained away by primal instinct and my gut clenched in a welcoming embrace for rage to take over and caution was willed into my soul. I felt my eyes burn in their colorless sockets of darkness.

_Come to me._ I whispered in my mind. I felt a sort of power wash over me, dark and sure, soak into my bones through my skin and muscle, into my skull through my hair. Everything became so clear and focused as the lion, my lion, made his way silently and surely towards me. There was a fire burning deep in his golden gaze, and I grinned to him in answer. We were going to survive, whether the Undead agreed or not.

Strength coursed through me and overcame me and my muscles coiled and rippled in my arms and legs, as well as my back as my answering calm heartbeat pounded through my ears. I took in a deep breath, and walked forward, scanning the tiny town in front of me. It was made up of small houses and stores; I saw only one police station in view. The buildings were gray and fading, like the town had been abandoned and lost, slowly breaking down. I scanned each one, the paint was crumbling off, and there was no color to them, no feeling. Even from out here, they looked and felt empty.

I crept silently up towards the first building. There was a door in the back and no walls covering up the rear and protecting the building so I easily came to the handle. I looked down at the lock, getting ready to pick it when I noticed the door was slightly ajar. I felt chills crawl down my spine and I clenched my teeth together. The hot desert air crawled along my skin and I felt sweat start to glide along my skin. It was suddenly bright, too bright. Too quiet.

I looked down to my lion, to the massive and strong cat beside me and I sent him a mental picture of caution. His head swiveled to look at me, those golden eyes boring into mine, understanding and fierce. His head turned back to the door and I saw his hackles rise just slightly. I took in a breath close to the opening of the door with my nose and noticed a foul smell, like death.

This town had been taken too.

I braced myself and pulled back, brushing my hair away from my dark eyes and cracking my neck. It sounded like a gunshot went off because it was so quiet. I waited, motionless for some sort of sound inside. Nothing. I kept my eyes and ears open and stepped forward into the threshold.

The first thing I noticed was, it was dark. Smiling ruefully to myself, I opened the door all the way and it clicked silently against the wall from the force of swinging it open. The bright light from outside flooded into the room.

_I'm in a police station. Fuck. The only safe place in a town could be a police station. And it's empty and deserted. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

Sending a silent prayer to the heavens above to every single God or Goddess known to man, woman, and child, I crouched down and continued on. My feet made scuffing noises on the ground and I corrected it, slowing my breathing until it was almost silent. My eyes adjusted to the light and I finally noticed the bodies.

There were probably about fifty of them. The entire town. Dead. On this floor of which I stood upon. I looked down to keep from gagging, my mistake, and noticed the black ichor and green puss of bodily fluids. Probably Undead. Not sure. Though still disgusting. Totally. Irrevocably. Disgusting.

And the bodies. Oh. The bodies. Some of them were half eaten, guts, blood, flesh, gore, were strewn about the bodies and around the room, bones white and brown, some splintered and non-existent, some in broken pieces of parts. Their faces . . . They were pictures of their last horror, terror. Fear and sadness laces every single dead and deserted eye in the room. There was a clenching and tightening of my throat as those faces and faces I once knew flashed before my eyes.

Right before the lifeless bodies and blood, torn flesh and eyes, I hurled everything that had been in my stomach for the last two weeks, the smell curling up something inside me. Everything was spinning, smelt really horrible too. _Fuck. Just get the supplies and get out of here. Don't think about it. Cold hard bitch, remember?_

I dry heaved on the floor and shook my head, trying to take in deep breaths and failing miserably. _Nope. No use. I'm going to die, everyone is going to die. Either by getting bitten and turning into one of _them, _or getting eaten savagely until there is nothing left but pools of crimson blood and splintered bone, turned into toothpicks filled with yummy bone marrow as a treat. Why even try?_

_ No! Shut the fuck up and listen! We're going to live goddamnit! You're going to get to Alan. Find the cure. Fix Mom and Dad before they turn completely and start rotting away to nothing! You better shape up, or I swear to the Gods there will be nothing in this world left for you but to die!_

I gritted my teeth against Myself. I hated when I argued with Myself. It was always senseless and inexcusable behavior. But Myself was usually always right. I finished dry heaving and leaned against the wall for support, breathing in deep lung-fulls of the foul stench, but still getting in air to my lungs. Sighing to myself and closing my eyes against the grisly scene.

_Dark violet eyes turned indigo stared into mine. They were loving, full of warmth and strength. So dark in this pit. "Why are you upset?" Those eyes asked, echoed by a deep growl of a voice that warmed my very soul to the core, smoothly gliding along my skin and creating goose bumps wherever it touched._

_ "I'm afraid." I whispered back. Never daring to tear my nyx bottomless orbs from their land-locked gaze with the indigo seas. I heard a rumble of a chuckle and more goose bumps arose on my skin, sending prickling sensations down my spine and to my toes, gliding warmly down the back of my legs as I curled my toes in my boots. I reached out into the darkness to find skin radiating warmth like the sun and I stepped closer._

_ Hard muscles coiled inside thick arms and hands and a chest cradled me to a tall and large body. A solid and thunderous heartbeat echoed to my ears past the hard chest. I looked up to find the dark indigo eyes staring down at me. "I'm so proud of you." The voice whispered. I swallowed a gulp of air felt my eyes prickle slightly from unshed tears. "But I'm scared." I whispered. _

_ A dim glow of light appeared, illuminating a mass of brown curly hair, soft and free upon a glorious head of warmth. Dimples flashed every brilliantly in his cheeks, tanned golden by light. A beautiful smile, teeth white and perfectly straight. _

_ Alan._

I snapped out of my trance to find myself leaning heavily against the wall, and the lion at my side. I looked up from the growling and snarling and raging cat to my right and away from the wall to my left to peer into the dark of which the glow from the outside world could not touch.

I found glowing red spheres glaring at me from the depths.

Zombies.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Life is the Fire

_They cut it down, and where the pitch-black aisles_

_Of forest night had hid eternal things,_

_They scal'd the sky with tow'rs and marble piles_

_To make a city for their revellings._

_White and amazing to the lands around_

_That wondrous wealth of domes and turrets rose;_

_Crystal and ivory, sublimely crown'd_

_With pinnacles that bore unmelting snows._

_And through its halls the pipe and sistrum rang,_

_While wine and riot brought their scarlet stains;_

_Never a voice of elder marvels sang,_

_Nor any eye call'd up the hills and plains._

_Thus down the years, till on one purple night_

_A drunken minstrel in his careless verse_

_Spoke the vile words that should not see the light,_

_And stirr'd the shadows of an ancient curse._

_Forests may fall, but not the dusk they shield;_

_So on the spot where that proud city stood,_

_The shuddering dawn no single stone reveal'd,_

_But fled the blackness of a primal wood._

H.P. Couldn't have said it any better. The world had turned primal, deadly, dark, and I stood right at the center of the problem, as those eyes watched me from a menacingly close distance away, all because of one man's greed and ambition had turned this world dead. I slowly traced a foot back, just my right foot, getting ready to bolt when they snarled savagely. I stopped and watched keenly, waiting for an opportunity.

I have decided to name the lion Duncan. Sorry, random, I know.

Duncan stood rigid, lips pulled back in a snarl as his hackles raised higher, saliva dripped from those large and sharp teeth, like the longest and sharpest saws of a blade ready to strike at any moment. His eyes were pinpointed and locked on target, his fur raised so he looked to be twice his size, massive and feral.

He looked fierce, a warrior animal waiting for the right moment of attack. And I was his leash, holding him back. I smiled wickedly and straightened my spine. I felt my eyes growing darker and sucking up all the light in the room. Felt goose bumps rise on my arms despite the warm air.

I reached down slowly to a dead body to my left, leaning away from the wall. The dark red eyes followed me, pools of crimson blood dripping such malice as they stayed locked on to my form. I gripped one of the shredded legs, bloody and torn and turned almost green from being dead long, thus the muscles were locked and solid, un-moveable from death.

With this, I let out a primal roar as Duncan shot forward and attacked one of the floating orbs of blood and I the rest.

It seemed a frenzy in the dark. I felt their strong hands and nails scratching at my clothing and skin, I could only see their eyes and I aimed with the deformed leg for them, felt it connecting with flesh and bone and sinking in. The smell that came from the busted skulls and pus oozed throughout the room and it was of rotting eggs, bodily fluids, my gag reflex working as I clenched my teeth and swung. There were so many of them, if we fought in the light I would have realized how bleak this was.

I felt a sudden sharp pain in my right side, and a warm liquid slid down my skin. I heard the gnashing of teeth and scream. It was like my entire right side was on fire, it hurt so badly, the pain of it's teeth sinking into my flesh and ripping it apart, even the muscle, was almost un-bearable.. The white hot pain blinding me as I stood frozen to the spot. You know when you scream, but no sound comes out? The mouth opened in a silent wail as your lungs worked all the air inside them and out, reaching for a breath when none came? That's how I stood. Transfixed eyes on the ceiling as the gnashing of teeth came from below on my side, and my flesh turned to white hot fire and little trickles of blood pooled out of my body, the delicate life liquid leaving me.

The snarling stopped suddenly as a primal roar sounded through the room. I closed my eyes and counted to five. Maybe I'm just dreaming, this can't be happening, right?

_ One._

The room shook from that one roar, it thundered through the walls and ground as the shrieks and un-human sounds reverberated through my chest.

_Two._

The teeth detached from my side, the sharp molars leaving me and those rotting hands grabbing me everywhere, leaving trails and hand prints of their blood upon my body, as well as bruises. The darkness of behind my lids matched what I would have seen if my eyes had been open. Blinding dark stars and spots clouded my closed vision.

_Three._

The hands ripped from my body, one by one, and the crunch of bone sounded in my ears, rattling me to the core. I took a painful breath of air through my nose and mouth and smelt the stench in the air, tasted the vile reeking fluids on my tongue.

_Four._

It seemed as everything came in fury now, there were snarls, shrieks, roars, gurgling grumbles of pain, whining, everything shook, from the floors to the walls to the ceiling, everything was a mess. I felt everything touching me leave my body, the taste unyielding from my tongue. I prayed everything would be all right when I got to five.

_Five._

The noise in the air suddenly was cut short. There was a huge gap in the air where the sound should be. It was hollow and ate at my chest as chills crept down my spine. My legs felt like jelly and I could stand no longer. I collapsed to my knees in the muck and gore that cushioned me on my fall. I couldn't bear to open my eyes to the scene that lay in wait, though I knew I had to. So, I opened them . . . And holy fuck.

Light had flooded the room as the door that had once been attached to the frame had been ripped from the wall and was in pieces everywhere. The dark windows that had been covered by blood had been blown out, as well as pieces of bodies splattered across the walls, ceiling, floor, and me.

And there, standing in front of me, was Duncan. Shoulders heaving and hackles raised, black ichor thick with the vile bodily fluids dripped from his muzzle and massive canines, his golden eyes searching everywhere with a feral gaze. His lips raised in a snarl as he surveyed the damage before us. _A lion could do this much damage?_

I smiled ruefully and then it cracked into my signature smirk, "Good kitty." I whispered. My voice sounded scratchy and my throat dry. What had been done to me? I felt my eyes start to drift downward and the room went up and away from my sight as I started to look down at my body. I stopped myself. No, I don't dare look yet. I have to wait until we get to a safe location. I leaned against the wall, supporting my weight with one hand as I wrapped the other around my wounded side. I winced as my entire right side felt wet and warm, and just the light touch sent white hot flames of fire up and down my body.

I clenched my teeth as Duncan came around and licked my side as I braced myself with my right hand. I looked down at the large cat. His bright star's for eyes looked up at me with trust and understanding, like he knew how much pain I was in, and I gave a weak smirk down at him. The massive cat licked my right side again and braced some of my weight on him, leaning me away from the wall. I cried out as more pain over came me and I swayed as dark stars danced in my vision, everything swirling together as I blanked out for a second, to where I couldn't see the black ichor splattered all over the walls, ceiling, and furniture.

To where I couldn't see my own blood dripping from al available surface around, the carnage of bodies, both from dead, and recently dead undead laying everywhere, covering every available surface as the bodies overlapped each other. Even when I blanked out, I could still see in the darkness their silent screams of terror, their last moments on this earth as their eyes were glazed over, full of pain and fear as they were ripped from their only existence. I felt gags coming on as I could still picture their faces and limbs, strewn about everywhere without volition or order.

Everything around me was dead, gone, lost to the unknown, and I was possibly next in line to see the other side real soon, both with the dead and undead.

I could only see faint light as I started to gain my vision back, little by little, as Duncan guided me throughout the police station, as we discovered. Most of the bodies were civilians but we saw various uniforms and badges, enough of the weapons looked to be available only if you had a badge and a right or will to wield. I looked through all the bodies and found various ammunition unused, and smirked despite the pain and possible doom looming in the near future. These people left a lot of ammunition and fire power behind, of which I intended to use.

The first thing I had to do was find some shelter and find some medical supplies I could use to bandage myself, until then I wouldn't panic about what would happen, I would not even _think _about what was going to happen to me. The idea would scare me too much so I kept going, thinking about the now and what to do. The second thing I would do was find some gunpowder, and lots of it, and burn this entire town down. There may be dead bodies, but I didn't know what was dead, and what was _really _dead. You know?

Arson was one of my strong suits. I'm a pyro, you know?

It would be better if I could get into the evidence storage areas of this police station and find some C4 left over, even a little bit or from the gun storage areas, something, anything I could get my hands on. Or I had to make a bomb. I know the ingredients, and yes, and actual ingredient in explosives had some ingredients from peanut butter, that stuff is dangerous.

After gathering up various supplies of ammunition, as well as; grenades, AR15, a few beretta15s', Glock 9s', AK47, a Colt45, and a Desert Eagle, ammunition for the various, and some bullet proof vests, a badge, some cash, (you never know), bottles of water, Chex-Mix, a bowl, a massive leash and collar for Duncan, as well as a massive dog bullet proof vest for the lion, I put them all in a large sac, slung it over my shoulder, and headed out.

We headed into the house; Duncan and I scouted the various rooms to make sure it was all clear. When we made sure it was okay, I went to work getting out his bowl and rifled through the cupboards, getting the unopened and clean cans out, opening the cans and dumping their contents into his bowl. Duncan went to work eating everything. I looked around the small kitchen and tried not to think about the various blood splatters across the walls and ceiling and floor, tried not to think about the deep imbedded scratches in the wood on the cupboard doors and frames. I tried so hard not to look at the small play pen in the corner of the kitchen, designated area full of plastic building blocks, stuffed animals, dolls, and a tiny well-loved and worn blanket, and that sound board that when you pulled the lever on the side it would land on the various farm animals and go moo, oink, quack, meow, or woof.

It was so hard.

I looked to Duncan and he immediately looked up to me, his golden eyes searching mine as his muscles were hunches as his tongue was half in, and half out of his mouth as he licked his bowl full of food. _Stay put and guard please, I'm going to go find something else to wear._ I thought to him as I leaned away from the counter, reaching towards the massive sac full of weapons to grab out the AR15 and wrestle it out of the bag. I opened the dust slot and pulled back the slide to clock it keep it ready as I held it in both hands, the straps wrapped around my right hand so if something tried to yank it from me, it wouldn't go anywhere.

I flexed my hands around the gun, feeling the familiar metal slide between my hands as my palms stayed dry and the gun warm and comforting in my cold hands, firm and steady as I held it with precise sights as I walked through the kitchen and out into the hallway, taking a left down the hall to see the stairs at the end of the hall. The AR felt smooth in my hands, felt secure and safe in my palms as I walked through the house, silent and quick. I almost felt as if I was out there with Alan myself, holding the weapon used to kill another, as I had always wanted. I wanted to join the marines but dad hadn't wanted me to, he said it was dangerous and that I would get hurt, but I wanted to go out, help people, keep my comrades safe as they had my back as I had theirs.

I wanted to be a part of a family that thought of me for me, not for my dark eyes or their first impressions of my cold exterior. I did what needed to be done.

I snapped back to the present as I came to the first of the stairs. It was a bad position. If anything had snuck in while Duncan and I had been downstairs and came rushing down the stairs, it was a bad spot to be, because of the incline, they would see me coming and it would be too late for me, they had the upper hand. I fought coming up, if they tripped me as I was charging, then I was screwed. I would fall down the flight of stairs, crack te back of my spine and get either paralyzed, or if I hit hard enough, paralyzed, and in a quick second, dead, the cord to my brain snapped and nerves killed, heart stop and gone in just one second.

I took a calming breath, feeling the burn in my side as I blanked out the pain. I turned down my heart rate, (a trick of mine) with one breath, soothing the adrenaline that was about to surge through me as I ascended the stairs. The stairs creaked and I inwardly cursed, taking my right foot as I was a quarter of the way up, and tested the next step to the center, then to the right, then left of the step. The stair creaked from center to left, so I had to walk around to the right side so to keep silent, just like I had to at my house in the hallway to keep from waking my parents.

I shuffled and distributed my weight as the assault rifle swayed with me, and I descended again, now silent as air. I turned right as the flight of stairs came to the landing and I slowly turned my rifle upwards, (here's the thing, never swing a rifle or gun in any direction, any shot taken would be inaccurate, the thing is quick and steady. Do not jerk the weapon in any direction, pull it up and in towards you then out, just like a cheerleader's fists, clean, sharp, never swing, uses more energy and less accuracy and cleanliness.)

Keeping the barrel in sights, I went up the rest of the way to the hallway and eyed the one to my right. I knew that one was the nursery, as I went in there before and immediately backed out. The one to my left was a boy's room, there had been posters everywhere of bands, cars, girls, and sports. So I was guessing someone around my age or a little bit younger. To the left of his bedroom was the bathroom. At the end of the hall was the parent's bedroom. There were only two more doors in the hall, one was a hall closet, next to the nursery, and then one was to another bedroom, it might have been a spare, but I had found clothes in there, photos that were framed and personal affects, but I wasn't sure who had stayed in there.

I went past the boy's bedroom to the bathroom. Before I entered, I listened for sounds of any kind. Paranoia is now healthy caution in these days, so don't judge me. You can never know what could be behind a door or down the hall or two feet behind you. You had to use all your senses these days just to survive. I didn't hear, smell, see, feel, or taste anything on the air, so I entered the bathroom and locked the door behind me. The water supply that came from the showers were safe, I knew, because the water supply traveled underground from lake mead, and the lake still purified the water supply, I didn't know how the disease hadn't spread from the water supply yet, but it was still clean so I was good, for now.

I carefully unzipped my light blue skinny jeans, taking them off and kicked off my shoes, careful of my ankle, and tossed them to the side. Next, I stripped off my light black tank top, and looked at myself in the large mirror behind me, mounted on the wall so people could admire their bodies. As I looked at myself in the mirror in just my indigo lacy bra and matching underwear, I felt sick.

My skin looked purple, yellow, blue, and black every where, from various bruises and blood. My side looked like bloody flesh made of pulp, my ankle looked a little bit swollen as well. The way my right side looked, open and gashed, just made it hurt more, the pain charged up and around my body, consuming me in fire as I collapsed to the ground, it hurt like a _bitch!_ I clenched my teeth, thinking about the gashes on my legs that had healed in a short time, maybe . . . _No. It's never going to heal you idiot. Saliva . . . Blood . . . You're going to be just as dead as they are. You're never going to survive, you were never going to anyways. You're never going to get to Alan, but be joined by your Undead parents forever until you guys run out of juice and start to savagely eat each other. Your mother blood in your mouth while your fathers flesh is under your hands, lacerated by your teeth and your nails alone. _

Shut up.

_That is how it's going to turn out. It's never going to work. Maybe, you might make it to Alan, but then you'll be one of _them. _You'll eat him while he lives and watches you in horror, never trusting you from the beginning because of all that you haven't said, you know he's never loved you, because of your eyes, because you look evil, you've always looked dead to him, so now this will bring out your eyes even more once you're dead._

Shut up!

_It's not going to work, Sweetheart. You'll kill him, you'll kill them _all. _You're turning, even now. This is the virus talking, and you're listening. They left out that this is the first stage of the oncoming change, _your _change. _


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Death is the Cold

_No! No! This can't be happening! _

I gripped the edges of the sink, I felt the fire from the bite on my side sending white hot flames crawling up the side of my body, reaching up and curling over my shoulder, clawing it's way up my neck and the side of my face, burning me from the outside and in. With each gasp of breath, I felt myself going insane. My dark hair draped over my face, I felt sweat accumulate on my brow, and I tried to push back the pain. I smelt all the blood, the scent hung heavy in the air, as well as fear, and a desolate emptiness.

_I can't hurt anybody. I _won't_. I'm _not _changing. I can't be, I'm not this stupid, I can't get bit this easily. This isn't me. The voice isn't me. _

There seemed to be many voices talking in my head, such loudness. Everything was spinning, turning out of control. It was loud, so loud. Coherent thoughts left me as fear gripped my heart and I felt my stomach drop into the floor. So many voices, make them stop, make them stop!

_ Oh. But it is, Sweetheart. You _are _changing. First, you go insane, and this inner voice, Me, pipes up, tells you reality, and it all happens. Just watch. You're going to kill everyone, and everything around you. This is how it is. This is how you are. You can't change it. Think of it as . . . Fate. Yes, Fate. _

_ NO!_

I looked up at myself in the mirror. My dark eyes stared back at me, they seemed to suck out all the light around the room, their onyx depths drowning the light, taking all of it, all the goodness and righteous right out of the air, drowning out everything every where they touched, they looked. Those eyes, _my _eyes, took everything.

My mouth curled up into a sadistic smile.

_Good luck saving yourself, Sweetheart._

I snapped out of it. Pushing myself away from the sink, smashing my back into the wall behind me, the steel towel rack slamming into my shoulder blades. The cold sting brought me back to the present. The voices seemed to stop; dead silence blanketed the tiny room, and swept like ice over me, stopping me dead cold, frozen to the spot. The only sound that echoed around the tiny bathroom was the sound of my breaths; ragged, un-even. They came out like a locomotive's; lurid, unforgiving sound, shattering the silence, making it eerie and pitiless.

I closed my dark eyes shut, black stars clouded my vision behind my lids. A dark chill crept up my spine, and goose bumps arose on my skin.

_Control yourself, and you control the situation._

Stopping my breath, I opened my eyes and waited a moment before breathing in and letting it all out, pushing everything from my mind, pushing everything from myself.

_Center yourself. Balance, then become unyielding, cold, like stone. The mountain does not bow before the wind. The mountain stands before all, mighty and unyielding, stone cold, full of resolve. Become the wind, and then harden like the mountain._

I let my fear flow through me, let my fear fuel my thoughts. I let my uncertainty take control of my body, of my limbs, I let my heartbreak control my mind and heart, I let my anger fuel my actions, let the fury come.

I stared into the mirror, and my reflection stared back. Onyx orbs of eyes met my stare, they were heartless, cruel, demanding. They were wide open, and traces of fear laced themselves in it's gaze. The face of the girl before me held so many emotions, her mouth was slightly open as breaths escaped their red lips, her high cheeks accentuated her dark eyes, the splatters of blood made her appear fierce, strong. Though, the fear that she held in her expression, made her weak.

I took another breath, and the girl in the mirror did as well. I held it in . . .

_One._

Her long hair held caked blood, she flicked her head to the side to rid her face of the strands that hung heavily before her. She raised her chin, her eyes met mine. They held so much anger, so much fury. My blood boiled in my veins.

_Two._

Her gaze shifted to the side, looking towards the door. My own eyes stared at the door, traced the grains of wood, the white paint looked clean, sterile. Free of any fleck or imperfection. Judging from the brass handle and notches on the side of the door, it was new, just put in. My eyes went back to the mirror, and the girl's own watch held a deep sadness that both shocked me, and froze me in terror to the spot, and it seemed to shock her too, as her eyes had widened in her face, and horror and panic stabbed me like hot daggers from her look.

_Three._

I let out my breath, and so did the girl. I watched as all emotions left her body, as her shoulders sagged, but her muscles became tense, un-yielding, just like her look in her dark eyes. In their depths swirled coldness, a calculating stare, a hardened resolve seemed to echo in the onyx darkness, she pushed her shoulders back and raised her head, staring back at me with a slight smile, a dark smirk alighting her face and orbs.

The despondent girl was no more.

Stepping out of the shower, I grabbed the clean towel I laid out for myself and wrapped it around my body. The towel was warm from the steam in the tiny room, and it was a soft cotton that instantly absorbed most of the moisture on my skin. The towel was a deep blue color, and I tied it to my body and threw my clothes in the trash, all except for my boots. I need my boots. Grabbing the AR15, I wrapped the straps around my left arm and held it at the ready as I maneuvered the weapon from hand to hand, reaching for the handle on the door and quietly turning it, swinging the door towards me slowly and peeking out.

On the other side of the door sat Duncan, his massive face was resting on his large paws, his tail swished from side to side on the floor, his gold eyes watching me with a calculating look. If he was out here then it was safe to come out.

Un-wrapping the straps from my left arm, I slung the AR15 across my back and grabbed up my boots and trudged down the hall to the last room. Opening the door, I saw it was the master bedroom, I looked over to the window on the right, noticing it was locked, and put the AR15 down on the bed along with my boots.

Duncan made his way into the room and made a leap for the bed, his muscles flexing and working mid-air before he landed gracefully, and rolled onto his side and watched me work my way around the room. I stopped mid-way to the large doors of the closet to the left side of the room, removing my towel from around my body and drying off quickly before flipping my hair upside down and wrapping it up in the towel and coming back up to face the closet.

Opening the doors to the closet, sliding them aside, I walked into the massive space, looking at the racks of clothes and shoes, the dressers that held Gods knew what. Going to the first drawers, I opened them up to find men's underwear and socks. With a grin, I yanked out what looked to be the largest pair and ran out of the closet and sprung myself onto the bed next to Duncan. His large golden eyes peered at me with interest as I gave him a mischievous smile.

With a giggle, I yanked them down and onto his head, and with a roar, he pounced on me and shook his face inches above mine, yawning his mouth wide, his sharp and long teeth just a few inches away from my face. My heart was racing, but not with fear.

"Duncan! Omigod! Bro, your breath stinks like shit!" I cried as a waft of air came from his mouth. The stench smelt of death and decay, as well as rotting trash and just, damn. Giggling, I reached up and yanked the boxers farther down on his face. The print on the boxers was blue and white plaid, and totally made Duncan's eyes pop in his large face.

Since Duncan was waving his large head all over the place, his body was shaking with the movement, making the bed shake, making me jiggle. I giggled loudly and maniacally with the movement. I felt my laughter bubble out of me, and the deep pit of my stomach rumbled with it. My laugh sounded like deep bells, clear but unwavering, a cadence of sound reverberating through me.

I felt a lightness come over me, and as I jiggled and giggled under Duncan as he still was wildly trying to remove the man's boxer's from his face, his spit flying every which way from his mouth, I felt momentarily happy, letting go for a moment, just a moment, a minute of life.

That moment was quickly shattered as a loud bang came from downstairs, and three different voice floated up the stairs to me.

Duncan froze above me, my laugh was cut short as the three rowdy voices started to head up the stairs, and the clear view of the stairs was still visibly since I left the door to the room open and the bed was situated just a few feet from the open door against the wall.

And the stairs, who ever was coming up, would have a clear view of Duncan and I.

Duncan sprang off of me and started to quietly snarl, spit and foam gathering on his large teeth and dripping from his mouth as he prowled at the front of the door. His muscles bunched up and tightened around his movements as he smoothly glided across the floor, his paws making light thumping sounds, his claws were out and his shoulders hunched, his body close to the ground and his ears pinned back on his head, ready to pounce.

I quickly jumped off the bed and unwrapped the towel from around my head, shaking out my hair and wrapping the towel around my body instead, covering myself as I grabbed my AR15 from the bed, taking my stance right behind Duncan.

Quickly, I snapped my finger against the switch, loading the AR, and swished my left hand back in forth through the straps, tying it securely to my arm. I jerked the AR smoothly up to my shoulder and put the gun into my sights, not my sights into the gun. I closed the dust panel with my right hand and placed my finger on the trigger. Oh, fuck, was I going to go deaf if I needed to pull that trigger.

The three voices that were coming up the stairs were sure in for a surprise when they saw us.

I stood statue still, calming my heart beat and slowing it until it was a dull drum in my ears, a steady rhythm. My breaths came out slow, quiet, deep and full. My gaze flickered down to Duncan for a second, and I saw a flash of him shifting his weight to his hind legs, widening his stance and pushing his left and right front paws out wider, his claws extending even further as his muscles rippled along his spine and down his legs.

A head poked up from the stairs, then another, and another. All three faces were male, two had dark brown hair, one with sandy blonde. They were laughing about something, they were loud and rowdy bunch.

If this house was full of the Undead, they would surely be fucked, because they would have alerted whatever was in the house of their presence. Easy pickings.

As all three were finally at the top, the blonde stopped mid-tracks and stopped laughing at whatever the three of them had shared as his bottle green eyes met mine. The other two stopped at his stricken face and followed his gaze to me.

"Fuck." One of the brunettes cursed, his voice was thick, and had an accent to it, probably Australian; hell, he sure had the build of one. His eyes were the color of a dark whiskey, his jaw line was square and strong, high cheek bones, light freckles here and there, dimpled cheeks when he was laughing or smiling, tanned, muscles all the way around, tall, maybe six feet.

I could take his ass any day.

The other brunette spoke up, his hair was darker that his other brunette companion, as the first was more a rich, dark honey, his was that of chocolate locks, his eyes were also that the color of his hair, deep chocolate. All three of then were sun-kissed tan, let's get that out of the way, as well as all muscle and all around six feet tall. This one, I remember, has a lopsided grin, though. "Look, Ma'am, we don't want any trouble. We're unarmed, all the weapons from the nearby station were missing, we're just looking around for something to arm ourselves with, we saw the carnage left behind at the station and we-"

"I have all the weapons. That carnage? That was me as well. Well, Duncan here and I. I would appreciate it greatly if you would be ever so kind to tell me who the fuck you are?" I cut him off smoothly, piercing them all with my gaze, but keeping the AR raised and ready. Duncan gave a snarl and rocked back and forth on his legs.

The Aussie stepped forward, his voice a deep purr, "I'm Liam," he pointed to the blonde and then the other brunette, "That's Danny and Eric. Look, we're not here to look for any trouble, we're just passing through."

At that moment, the blonde, Danny, stepped up, "And who, might you be?" His bottle green eyes connected with mine, and his eyes held no fear, they didn't shy away from the dark depths, and I was taken aback.

"My name is Brooke Knight. This is Duncan. We're both from the Vegas area." I replied, my eyes darting from each man to the next. Liam and Eric couldn't seem to get over my eyes, as when I met their gazes they looked away or focused on something else, while Danny met my gaze fearlessly.

Eric chose that moment to take a step closer, and Duncan gave a loud growl and snarl and swiped out at him with his right paw, claws extended. Eric backed up, hands raised, "I have to ask, don't blame me, but are you infected like one of them? Your eyes aren't normal."

I couldn't help the spark of a flame that ignited in the pit of my stomach and started to boil my blood. Alan wasn't here to tell them off, or to comfort me, I was alone; I had to deal with this. Plus, I was infected, but they didn't know what, and it wasn't for sure. I might just be in denial, but I sure as hell had two weeks to get to Alan before the infection took over. I was _not _turning into one of them, if I was going to die, then Alan was going to be the one to kill me.

I gave him a sick, sadistic smirk I usually wore for the ignorant that mocked my eyes, "No. I'm not infected. They are normal, normal for me. I was born like this. You don't like it? Does it freak you out? Then fuck you, deal with it. They've been like this, even when I was still developing in my mother's fucking uterus." A stab of pain hit me, and I suddenly hit a wall.

_Don't think about it. Don't think about it. _

The gun wavered for a second, just a second, and I saw Danny notice the slight change in me, but he didn't say anything, just stood there and looked me straight in the eye as I regained my composure back.

Danny seemed to see the flash of unease and darkness in my eyes to understand the emptiness inside me, it was just a flash, there and gone in the same second, but he still saw it when the other two didn't, and he seemed to understand.

He opened his mouth and piped up, his voice was a smooth deep bell, "We haven't discussed yet, but I was wondering if it would be a good idea to tag along together, numbers are better against this kind of crowd?" He asked, taking a slow step forward. Duncan opened his mouth menacingly wider, I gave a slight smirk as Danny didn't back away, which was very stupid yet very brave of him.

I looked to both Eric and Liam, they looked at Danny with astonishment, Eric shook his head, "Bro! What the hell! She could be seriously fucked up for all we know, or she could be lying about being infected, there was a lot of those infected things down at the station, she couldn't have gotten all of them without getting bit once-"

"I'm standing right here, fuckface. Yes, I did take on all of them without getting bit once. I was trained young to kill, always go for the easiest and quickest way to end your target. I also have Duncan here with me; a wild cat, not one trained, he kills for a living. Trust me when I say I'm totally sane. My boyfriend is in Special Forces because I trained _him _before he went in, I'm about as mentally secure as one can get, as well as physically."

"We can see physically." Liam added, his voice smooth and sliding over my skin with his deep purr, his eyes gliding over my body slowly inch by inch. I gave a shiver but I glared at him, focusing my dark soul-sucking eyes on him. "Yes, quite. Best to remember that, I can kick your ass in a quick second on one single word, you slime skeez-gut ball. I fucked your father for a living, I can certainly fuck you up to if the occasion called for it, ThunderCunt."

"-It's decided then!" Eric cut in, "We're all joining up together, any one who can stand up to the Auss' needs to be in with us." His large, lopsided grin brought a smirk to my face. I lowered my AR but kept it close to my body.

"First things first. I don't generally trust well on several accounts of it biting me in the ass. And second, where are you three originally from?"

"Outside of you." Liam snickered, Danny punched his arm with a quick and what looked to be a painful strike. He gave a laugh and grabbed his arm where Danny slugged him.

Danny looked at me and gave a sheepish smile, "Liam moved to California a year ago, we're all from California, born and raised."

"A bunch of beach boys." I mumbled. I looked to Duncan and saw his still pounce ready stance, "Duncan." I whispered, his ears swiveled back and he turned to look at me, his gold intelligent eyes looking into my own dark orbs of onyx.

_Duncan, they're with us, for now, stay cautious, though._ I thought to him. He stopped crouching and came up to stand beside me, his full height reaching up to just the bottom of my breasts, as he rubbed his face against the sides of my ribs.

"Good Cat." I mumbled, reaching around to run my right hand across the top of his head between his ears and then pulling gently on each ear, feeling the softness of his fur there.

I looked up and appraised the three men before me. "I know, trained cat my ass, but fuck, whatchu gonna do?" I smirked. Duncan stood beside me as I watched the three of them, calculating on what I should do.

"I have to finish getting dressed, but you three can go wait in the guestroom or the boy's room, I don't suggest going to the room to the right, that's the . . . Just, don't go in there, okay? Best not to . . ." My voice trailed off. Eric and Danny nodded their heads, Liam just snorted and walked into the boy's room, followed by Danny and Eric. I went over to the door and closed it, and ran into the closet once more.

Play time is over. I have three men to watch out for, and my own back. I was hoping I could go alone, but I was bound to happen upon someone some time.

Rummaging through the woman's clothing in the drawers, I found she was around my size, but her boobs were just a little bit smaller than mine, but that was okay, just pretend it's a push-up bra. I found blue and black zebra print bra and underwear, both silk, which my philosophy was if your underwear and bra were matching, it was going to be a good day. Although, it was silk, and felt as if I wasn't wearing any underwear at all, they fit perfectly, and would filter out the heat, so I wouldn't sweat my balls off.

I also found a pair of dark navy blue designer skinny jeans, some ankle socks, and a cotton brown tank top. This woman, whom must have had a kinky fetish, must have been going through a stage where she thought the more young and hip clothing she had, the better she looked, along with the more leather, the sexier.

Whatchu gonna do?

So, I took a black leather jacket, also designer, it looked absolutely kick ass. I towel dried my hair, brushing out the knots afterwards. The thick raven's wing colored mass looked darker since it was wet, and looked like the color of my eyes. Sighing, dropping the wet strands out of my hands and brushing them against my back, I had taken some supplies from the bathroom in the master bedroom and wrapped up my ankle snugly, the hot water had calmed it down a little bit, which is totally awesome. I grabbed up my leather boots and laced them up around my ankle carefully, the hot water had also taken off some dirt of which I thought were bruises, but still, I had a lot of bruises left over. Duncan watched me from his spot on the bed, purring occasionally.

Oh, it was going to be a long day.

I had the AR15 strapped at an angle against my back, Duncan followed me at my heels as I walked towards the boy's room. I heard the three in there, laughing about something. I rolled my shoulders back and cracked my neck from side to side.

Realization hit me as I gripped the handle to the door to open it;

I was no longer fucking alone.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Light is the Arrow

I couldn't wrap my mind around it. Fuck. I had to look out for three others besides Duncan and I. I couldn't even look after . . .

_Don't _fucking _go there, Brooke._

_ No, please do. Think about your failure. You were too busy thinking about your boy toy to notice your own mother getting mauled by a Zombie just a few feet from you, too busy with fret to save your father from turning into one of them, too busy to save the entire Air Force Base when your mother was one of the first attacks. You were too focused on your boy toy, on your selfish needs, to save others from this threat. Go ahead, three more Zombies aren't so bad, just add them to the list, because you'll be too busy with your selfish goal to save them too._

Leave, me, _alone!_

I grabbed the door knob of the boy's room and turned it swiftly, yanking it wide open and kicking it inwards so it was flung off its hinges into the wall behind it, banging so loudly and moving with such ferocity that it made the three men inside instantly jump up and look stricken.

It was the Aussie whom spoke first, "What's your problem, Darling? Did the big bad Zombies come back to haunt you? Pussy-out on us, huh?" He taunted, his whiskey colored eyes focusing on me, in them was a heated gaze as he advanced closer to me, coming to tower over me. My chest bumped with his, and I had to look up to meet his gaze.

"The Pussy can take a pounding, it's not my parts I'm worried about. The penis is a birth-defect, and I plan on exploiting that little tidbit later on."

"I don't think you could handle this gumption."

"Oh, I plan on it. Let's ask the Wendy's question and I'll show you right now, 'Where's the Beef?"

Eric chose that moment to cut in, stepping up to our sides and putting a hand between us, pushing Liam a little bit away so there was at least an inch of air between his heated body and mine.

"Gentlemen and Lady, could we please hold off this arguing until we're on the road?" He brushed his chocolate locks away from his face and blew out a breath of air, exasperated already when the fun has just begun.

I took a step back, my boots scuffing on the floors as the air became thick. My jaw clenched and I took in a deep breath in through my nose, my hands coming up to pull the dark raven hair away from my face, still quite wet.

"Well, I've got to get to my boyfriend. It's safer where he's at."

"You've got a boyfriend? Wow, who would have thought," Liam spoke up. I smirked at the Aussie, taking a step closer.

"Yeah, we covered this earlier, thanks for listening."

"You're oh-so-charming and irresistible, I should have remembered."

Eric cut in again, stepping between us this time right before I could step up and send an uppercut right into Liam's probably shrunken sack.

"Alright. Alright. Lock it down, both of you. Brooke, where's your boyfriend located?"

I took a step back and leaned against the doorjamb behind me, crossing my arms over my chest and getting comfortable. "Army base called Fort A.P. Hill. Virginia."

Danny took this moment to step in, coming up to stand besides Liam on his left, as Eric was on Liam's right.

"Did we just hear correctly? Virginia? I thought your boyfriend was in Special Forces, why is he at an Army base?"

I turned to look at him, his bottle-green eyes challenged me to say something else, something closer. I shook my head, "Nope. Sorry, Danny. You heard correctly. For the reason why he's there? I believe it had something to do with the outbreak, because as soon as the outbreak started, he left. That was the morning my-"

I cut myself off, clenching my jaw shut, before continuing, "-That was the morning my world went to shit. Though we would be highly protected there, or, rather you guys would. I don't care, if you want to drop out now, the moment to do so would be right now."

Eric, Danny, and Liam all looked at each other, sharing that knowing gaze amongst the other as they had a silent conversation with their looks.

Danny turned to me, brushing his golden locks away from his bottle green eyes before he spoke, "We will stay with you, Brooke. Are you sure your boyfriend is still alive?"

I closed my eyes and let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

_How far would they go before they deemed me unworthy, killed me, and took my supplies? How long would it be before we reached Alan, and I had him kill me before the infection spread through to where I was so far gone?_

_ How long would they stay with me?_

I thought back to the last time I contacted Alan, which was five days ago. I updated him on my position and asked him if he was still at the base, he said yes, and that word had reached them of the spread of the drug's infection, so they were prepared for anything. _His dark violet eyes turned indigo, his dimpled smiled flashing lopsided at me, the feel of his curly chocolate locks running through my fingers, so silky and soft. His voice had been a deep melody in my ears through the phone, and I relished every inflection in his voice, every purr of words that came from his brilliant mouth. _

"I'm positive he's still alive. If not, I have to hope so. I contacted him five days ago-"

Eric piped up, "A lot can happen in five days, Brooke." His tone sounded damning.

I gritted my teeth and opened my eyes to look at him, his jaw was set, his eyes hardened.

"I know." I replied back, my voice sounded detached from my body.

Liam stepped up to speak as well, "Are you sure we can trust you to take us there to find safety? Are you positive that we can be safe there, Darling? Are we about to go on some wild chase?"

I smirked up at the Aussie and pushed myself away from the wall, "It's a fifty-fifty chance, Babe. Can you handle those odds?"

Danny grinned at me, his green eyes dancing with mirth, "Sounds alright to me."

I grinned at the three of them, felt the assault rifle strapped to my back and curled my toes in my boots. My shoulders tensed up as I realized something at that moment. My breath hitched as I turned around, looking for the big cat. I hadn't heard him in a while.

His large form wasn't anywhere to be found behind me.

_"Duncan."_ I whispered, as my chest tightened. I turned swiftly on my heel, drawing the rifle from my back, snapping my left wrist back and forth through the straps, winding it around my arm so it was secured to me. My fingers flashed over the dust panel, shutting it with a quick snick, which then smoothly glided to the slot on the side, pulling it back with a quick jerk, my fingers letting go to let it snap back into place.

There was a ringing in the air from the sounds of the gun sliding the bullets into place and my thumb traced over the safety latch on the left side of the weapon, sliding it back and off. With a quick click, the rifle was ready and loaded, the set was hot and I was at the ready.

I heard Eric call behind me as I flew down the rest of the hallway and down the steps, my booted feet thudding on the hardwood, making an echo throughout the house, sounding like thunderous booms and shaking me down to the very core, "Where you going, Brooke? Brooke?"

I didn't stop, my heart thudded in my chest as I ran through the house, my eyes darting left and right through the empty spaces and corners, seeing my lion no-where. A feeling of dread hit me as the wind whistled through my ears, my damp hair flying behind me and flinging water droplets onto the walls, mixing with the smears of blood and hand prints everywhere.

The thudding of feet sounded behind me, as the guys started to follow me outside. I didn't stop to yank open the door, as I barreled it down, kicking it open, wooden splinters flew up into the air and pieces hit my in the face; scratching at my skin and making me bleed. Dust flew up into the air, the sound of the door sounded like an explosion going off in the still, open space.

The sky had darkened menacingly, and I was met with the twisted night. The air seemed charged with electricity, buzzing against my skin just as my own dark onyx eyes met with that of those glowing blood red.

That's when the sounds of snarls and growls met my ears, and my eyes looked over to see my Lion being taken down by five zombies. Their teeth gnashing, blood and black ichor dripping from their sharpened teeth. Their howls of death screamed bloody murder in my ears just as I raised the rifle to my sights, took in a deep breath, and flexed my finger over the trigger.

The area around me was lit with a fire of hell as bullets rained down, and my ear drums exploded with the sound, before tapping out.

I heard nothing more.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Darkness is the Bow

The sounds, they all left me. My vision was filled with black ichor and the spray of bullets raining down on the Undead around me. There was a dull white noise in my ears where sound should be, my head felt empty, my body convulsed with each flex of my finger of the trigger, as the AR15 sent recoil through my body and into the ground. I moved with the gun, I embraced each fire of the weapon. I saw nothing but red as Duncan was attacked on all sides.

My anger flared up, my eyes burnt with the deepest and darkest embers as a tightening filled my chest, the bite on my side burned me, scalded my skin all the way down to the very bone. I felt as if I was being ripped apart from the outside in. My hair blew around me in a sudden pick-up of wind. I didn't know what was happening, I didn't want to know what was happening. All I wanted was to kill every single one of these fuckers here and now.

One of the Undead finally noticed me cranking off rounds. He broke free of the horde and came at me, teeth gnashing, black ichor of blood gurgling from his rotted lips and dribbling down the side of his face. His eyes were shrunken raisins in his decomposing face, just black beads staring at me with such sadistic malice that it was impossible to feel the wave of hunger rolling off of him. He had to be one of the older Undead; the virus must have affected him faster than the rest, probably a junkie from the looks of him.

He had no clothes on, he was stripped bare, naked before me as his head turned all the way around to stare at me, the skin at his neck rippling, breaking open, the bones in his spine jutting out as his matted and rotted skull swiveled freely on his shoulders. It was pure grotesque, the smells of his rotting body reached me in the picked up wind, and I felt my gag reflex work itself as the stench of his rotted corpse and Duncan's blood mixed with his own black ichor reminded me of the foulest death that was immeasurable and too immense to even describe.

He opened his foul mouth wider to show off his elongated teeth, sharp like knives in his face. He took in a deep breath and I'm sure let out a bellow that would have shattered what was left of my eardrums. All the Undead attacking Duncan turned to look at me, glowing eyes filled with loathing looked at me, and I felt the earth shake under my feet from all the screaming, and the rumbling and roars of their resounding replies.

The "Elder" snarled at me, blood curdling out of his mouth, right before he charged. He lobbed at me, jerking and screaming. I turned the AR towards him, and pulled the trigger.

My hearing came back.

It was as if I was in hell itself as the sounds came to me; the screaming, the grunting, the whimpering and snarling, it was all in hellish forms. It was like a thousand beasts resided in this space before me, the thumping of feet on the very earth, shaking it to the core. My heart stuttered in my chest as the entire world came into focus around me.

All of a sudden, I registered the burp and roar of the shot, it went through me, and I grinned wickedly, my onyx orbs in my face burning and dripping with black ichor wisps like the darkest power and malice resided in my gaze. The bullet went straight through the "Elder's" skull. His head jerked back on his shoulders, his twisted limbs flailing about, though he continued coming at me, his skull now caved in where the bullet had gone in right between the eyes.

I pulled back the latch on the side, loading in the next bullet before sliding it back. I took aim again and pulled the trigger again. The bullet went right into it's breast, and an explosion of black and rotted flesh splattered everywhere, the few other Undead behind him were struck with the bullet, as it went right through them too. Though, the ones behind the "Elder" fell, a mass of death and decay on the street.

The "Elder" finally got to me, grabbing the AR in my hands and yanking at it. Though since I had the straps wrapped around my left arm, he only succeeded in pulling me closer, jerking me closer. He snarled in my face and I grunted with disgust. I cranked off another round, which went into his stomach. His grip loosened on the AR, so I stepped in closer to him and jerked the rifle upwards into his jaw. There was a crunch, and pus and ichor splattered across my face and down my arms, onto my chest and into my clothes. I gave a snarl as he stepped back, letting go of the rifle.

His flesh smelt of death, his blood ichor of foul expiry. The asphalt from the street underneath me radiated heat, speeding up the process of decay, increasing the smell ten-fold. I was so done with death.

I felt a build-up of power tighten in my chest, felt like a thick cord was pulled thin, knotting and turning in my chest and dipping lower, a searing heat kindling like the fires of hell inside me. My blood boiled, and all I saw was blood. I pulled in a deep breath, letting it out through my mouth as my hands clenched on the rifle, knuckles white. I felt the crunching of metal beneath my fingers, though I didn't pay attention, all I wanted was for this to end so I could get to Alan.

I ripped the rifle from my arm, discarding it to the side. The "Elder" was crouched on the ground in front of me, snarling and raging silently as he watched me with a calculating look. I took a step back, I felt like I had stepped out of my own body for a moment as my rage took control. The skies darkened further above me, blanketing the world in darkness as I took in another breath, then ran at the "Elder."

He managed to get up, and charged at me. We met in a lock. His teeth snapped at my neck, reaching to bite me and ravage me. I didn't let him though, as I sent a knee into his pelvis. I felt my knee sink into the soft tissue, felt the bones give way under the pressure. A sickening crunch sounded in my ears, and I grinned maniacally.

He crumpled in my arms, and I tossed him to the side. He fell to the ground, buckling in. I stepped back just one foot, enjoying the view for a second, before I pulled my foot back and sent it into the "Elder's" spine. The Undead flew up into the air and a few feet away, his upper body separating from the lower as he went, ripping him apart into two pieces just from the pure force of the connection of the toe of my boot to the back of his vertebrae.

I let out a primal roar. It sounded inhuman, otherworldly, demonic and was like a great bellow of thousands of thunderous screeches all combined into one great scream. It was a war cry unlike any other. It didn't even sound like my voice, it didn't even sound human, not at all.

All the Undead turned to me; fear in their dead gazes as they backed up just a few paces.

_Duncan. Get into the house._ I thought as I advanced a few steps. Out of the corner of my gaze, I saw Duncan's growing limp form and I turned my own depthless onyx eyes towards the Undead there.

"_Move."_ I snarled at them, my lips curling up in disgust. I felt the coiling of power inside me, it wrapped around my words like a command, they all fell to their knees, like an unseen power forced them down and held them there as they snarled and raged at me, their eyes trying to sear me and kill me where I stood.

The Undead all moved away from Duncan, clearing a wide path from his, where my big cat could get up and walk towards me. When I saw all of him, I felt pain pierce my chest like a great-sword, cutting right through my breast and slicing me open to where all of me was exposed.

My big cat was covered in blood, the Undead's and his own. It dripped from him, as well as pieces of his flesh and fur.

"_Duncan-" _I breathed, my voice was that of a thousand voices combined into one, whispers on the wind. My cat looked beaten, though determination was in his gaze as he approached me, limping and snarling as he went.

I gritted my teeth and looked up at the horde that circled me; crouched and angered. I raised my chin, nostrils flaring and shoulders pushed back; I pulled in a deep breath, and charged towards them, my eyes dripping with darkness as my anger overpowered reason. I no longer controlled myself.

At the same moment, they got up from whatever force that held them, and lobbed towards me. I saw the red from their eyes, felt the hot air on my flesh, felt the heat rising from the asphalt, heard my breaths in my ears and the beating of my heart in my chest. There came a dull throb in my hearing, I felt pulses of electricity run from the base of my skull and down, running through my arms and down to my fingertips where it tingled.

A buzzing filled the air, and there was the ultimate silence, only the beating of my heart and the buzzing in the air reached me. My breaths came out even, deep, my eyes focused on the Horde before me. I heard nothing else but the silent chaos before the thunderstorm, the roar of the thunder and the boom from the ricocheting in the air, the flash of light, of clarity, where you saw everything, right before the bloodshed.

Then we clashed.

I ripped into them, my eyes dripping with dark power as a mist clouded around us. Black ichor splattered across my face as I ripped the head off of one of the Undead, and used it as a giant axe to swing up into the sternum of another. I felt decaying hands grab at me, scratch at me and pierce my skin with their sharp nails. I ignored the searing pain, like lines of fire that opened across my skin, and went into frenzy.

I kicked out with my right foot, catching one in the stomach, where my foot got stuck. I grinned at the Undead as another pulled at the back of my hair. I pulled my foot up higher, taking the Undead with me like he weighed nothing, and in an arc, swung my foot up to the right and then down, taking down three more, and crushing the one attached to my foot. There was a sickening crunch and sounds of squishy things as he connected with the asphalt under my foot, I felt the snapping of bones under my boots, felt it sink into his chest, felt his body give a jerk before it stilled, lifeless again, and a sick and sadistic grin lit my face.

My heart thudded harder in my chest; my blood was afire as it was pumped through my body. I struck out with my left fist, catching another Undead unaware as he tried to get to his feet, catching him in the back right in his lung, where my hand sunk through bone and right into his internal organs. The ichor shot out at me, spurting its dark and tainted blood all down my arm and across my chest up my neck to my face. It felt hot and sticky, wet and thick. A shudder went down my spine as my grin widened. I grabbed his lungs with my hand, giving a hard squeeze. The Undead convulsed around my enclosed hand, wailing and screaming that would have pierced my eardrums.

With that, I yanked my hand out, taking his lung with me. It was vile, and jelled around my hand, turning into mush and dark blood with one hard squeeze. He collapsed before me. With that, I turned swiftly to see another Undead advancing on me, his eyes burning and kindling with the fires of hell as they ran with crimson blood. His teeth were elongated and sharpened in his face and his head was sunken in, his limbs twisted and broken severely wrong in the wrong places. He hobbled towards me with an uneven gait whilst he gurgled blood at me. He was demented, dark, and otherworldly.

I felt as if I could relate.

I returned his gurgle with a smirk, tilting my head to the side and slithered over to him. He let out a broken sound that sounded like a wail and a grunt. I bared my teeth to him, pulling my bloodied raven hair back from my face, showing him my even darker eyes. He stopped and gave a broken coo that sounded like a snarl, his lips twisted up into a leer.

"Come at me, you sick bitch." I snarled, stringing the dead lungs between my hands. With that, he charged at me, and I returned the favor by advancing. He shuffled towards me, hands outstretched. I ducked beneath them, sliding underneath him and wind milling his feet. He fell to the ground hard behind me. I rolled to the side to avoid his grabbing hands, coming up on my feet and turning swiftly to see him getting up on his feet.

Not this time, bitch.

I took two steps forward and sent a kick into his side, sending him flying five feet away. He landed with a thud, grunting and black ichor spurting from his twisted mouth and between his rotted lips. I grinned at the sight right before he jumped to his feet and came at me.

He sent a quick knee up and into my stomach, grabbing my hair and twisting it in his hands before yanking down, further sending his knee into my sternum. I snarled as the pain bloomed from there and spread out. I yanked my head back and shoved the dead lungs into his face. He hissed as it blocked his vision. I took that moment to grab his left arm and twisted myself, pulling it over my right shoulder.

I held his wrist with my left hand and my right hand was placed right underneath his elbow. With a quick jerk upward, I dislocated his shoulder, and then I shoved upwards with my right hand, breaking his right arm and giving him a compound fracture. The rotted and gray bone stuck out through his leaden and putrefied skin.

I felt him slightly slump against me, as he wailed silently. His mouth was open in a silent scream, only slight air escaped. With that, I twisted his arm all the way around, flipping him forward on his back right in front of me. I sent forth a momentum in my right foot into the side of his skull, kicking his demented head right off its shoulders. He fell limp. His body crumbled underneath my body as I further stomped on his chest, my foot sinking all the way through, crushing him from the outside, in.

I looked up around me to see the bodies of the Undead everywhere, all on the ground. Dead once more, the air was silent, still, the electricity though still charged through me, zapping me out. My strength wavered for a moment. I pulled in a deep breath, and turned to look at the house.

Eric, Liam, and Danny all looked at me through the windows, guns in hand as they pointed the barrels right at me, searching my eyes and body for any changes. Duncan sat in one of the windows, his tail swishing back and forth as his golden gaze was focused on mine, strength and love and reverence was sent to me through his eyes. I smirked at him, blowing a kiss to my lion.

The last of my strength slipped from my body. My eyes rolled back in my head, I swayed on my feet a moment before my legs gave way under me and I fell to the ground, my body hitting hard and making a boom of noise in the silent air.

The last thing I heard and saw, were booted feet running towards me, the slapping of the bottom of the shoes hitting the asphalt. A large paw, pawed at my face and sniffed at my hair, a cool nose on my forehead before everything went dark.


End file.
